Meet the Band
by Lizzy3
Summary: Ron ran away to prove himself 5 years ago. No know what he plans to do, or where he is. Then, Hermione discovers him in a cafe in London, singing with his band Irish Pub. Will old romance rekindle? Read, Review and maybe you'll find out.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer- the characters that belong to me are all the ones that aren't in the Harry Potter books, those belong to JK Rowling. The two songs in here belong to "They Might Be Giants" the plot is mine. Don't sue and enjoy.  
  
Hermione walked aimlessly around muggle London. She rarely did this, seeing as her parents had moved to Africa to do charity work, (work on the children's teeth), so she didn't have anyone to visit. She had a cushy job at the ministry, the assistant to Reed Rumsey, the Minister of Magic. The only problem with her life, in fact, was that she hadn't seen Ron since the summer after graduation.  
  
She and Harry had stayed in touch, though he didn't really have much time to do what he wished. He was the DADA teacher at Hogwarts so he only got Christmas, Summer, and Easter break. They usually got together.  
  
Ron had basically abandoned everybody the summer after graduation. One day he had been there, sleeping in his bed and when they woke up, a note had replaced his slumbering body. The note had simply said: I have to do something with my life. You won't see me unless I accomplish it. -Ron.  
  
She had cried quite hard after that. Her eyes still got teary when she thought of it. They should have known; he always had had a thirst to prove himself. They all knew he felt inadequate. He, in her and Harry's eyes was no less important then them. The problem was, they were good at everything he was good at plus, they had a talent to themselves. He was a very good Keeper, but Harry was a better seeker. He was good at his studies when he tried, but she was better.  
  
They had learned about his artistic flare in their 6th year but there was nowhere at Hogwarts to show that. For Harry's Birthday he had written an extremely funny song for him, as he was a little low on cash.  
  
~Flash back~  
  
"Harry, I have written you a son for your Birthday. It, I think expresses your personality. I hope you like it."  
  
"Marmalade's from Scotland, rugs from Pakistan. Mexico had jumping beans, and cars are from Japan. Clowns are from the circus. Barking comes from dogs. Eggs come from a chicken, and log cabins come from logs. But where do they make balloons? But where do they make balloons. New York has tall buildings. New Jersey has its malls. Pisa has a leaning tower, will it ever fall? The ocean has the fishes. London has a tower. In Holland they have windmills, lots of bikes, and pretty flowers. But where do they make balloons? Spaghetti comes from China but Italians make it best. Ants can make an anthill and monkeys make a mess. Hungary isn't hungry and French fries aren't from France. Turkeys aren't from Turkey, they can't fly but they can dance. But where do they make balloons? But where do they make balloons?"  
  
"Thanks Ron," Harry smirked.  
  
"Happy Birthday buddy!" Ron said, grinning at him.  
  
~Conversation between Hermione and Harry later in the evening~  
  
"I didn't know Ron sang, or wrote music, or played the guitar for that matter!" Hermione exclaimed.  
  
"I didn't either. I mean that was just a stupid song but it was funny, and he said he wrote the whole thing by himself. To bad he can't do anything at Hogwarts."  
  
~End of Flashback~  
  
As I was saying, Hermione was walking around Muggle London. She caught sight of a small café. She looked at the small black board in front, Dinner and a Show!  
  
She walked in a took a seat near the back. Music came on and she looked up. The music seemed very familiar. A minute later, she realized why. She heard the familiar chorus of "Where do they make balloons?" She looked up at the head singer, and was shocked at what she saw. It was defiantly Ron, but a much more attractive Ron. He was muscular, and had a small stud in his ear. He was wearing a green T-shirt and kaki shorts on, with a ratty pare of sandals on his feet.  
  
When the song ended Ron came up to the mike. "Now, as you probably don't know, we are Irish Pub. We got this name when we discovered that at least one of all our ancestors are Irish and own a pub in Ireland. This might sound stupid to you, but there you are. That last song was one I wrote for my best friend on his 16th Birthday. This next one is one that I wrote for my other best friend, she's not really a Lazy Head or a Sleepy Bone, but she did like her sleep."  
  
"Lazy Head and Sleepybones always disagree. Though everybody says they should be friends. They're too tired to see. When Sleepybones says she's feeling tired. Lazyhead wants to rest. When Lazyhead says it's number one. Sleepybones says it's best. When Lazyhead uses imagination, Sleepybones daydreams. Lazybones says it's not what it looks like, and Lazyhead says it's not what it seems. Lazyhead and Sleepybones always disagree, though everybody says they should be friends. They're too tired to skinny, sleepybones says thin. When Sleepybones says identical, Lazyhead says twins. When Lazyhead says the window is closed, Sleepybones says it's shut. When Sleepybones says that something isn't, Lazyhead says it's not. Lazyhead and Sleepybones both take naps so long. And even though they should be friends. They can't get along. Lazyhead and Sleepybones always disagree. Though everybody says they should be friends, they're too tired to see." By this time Hermione was laughing her head off.  
  
She couldn't wait for the little concert to be over so she could go and see him. She hadn't realized how much she really missed him until she saw him again. When they finished "Bed Bed Bed" Ron gave a wave and they stepped off stage. They took a booth right behind hers.  
  
"Ron, why didn't you want to come back to England? It's great here!" an American male voice said.  
  
"It's complicated, no need to go into it," Ron answered. She winced before getting up the courage to go up to him. She slid out of her booth and walked over to him. She was suddenly very self-conscious of her hair, and the length of her sundress. "Oh, are you the waitress?" Ron asked, not looking up at her. She adjusted her glasses; she had gotten them when she was 18.  
  
"No, Ron, it's Hermione," she whispered.  
  
"What was that?" he asked, finally looking up. He looked at her a bit strangely, not being able to place her.  
  
"It's me Ron, your best friend," she answered a bit louder.  
  
"Hermione?" he asked.  
  
"Yes Ron, don't you recognize me? It's only been 5 years, I couldn't have changed that much!"  
  
"You have! I never would have recognized you! Sit down, meet everybody!" he exclaimed, sliding over. She took her seat and grinned around the table stupidly. They were all guys except for the one drummer. "This is Mike, he plays the guitar. This is Chris, he plays miscellaneous stuff and sings, and last but not least, this is Anne, she plays the drums and sings," he finished, looking back at her.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you, Hermione is it?" Mike, a short, muscular brown haired, blue eyed, rather attractive guy said. She shook his hand and nodded.  
  
"Well my my my, we finally meet the infamous Hermione, I swear, in the 4 years that I've know Ron, he talks about you more then anyone!" Chris said, giving her his rather chubby hand.  
  
"It's great to meet you," Anne, a pretty, blond, woman said, giving Hermione her hand. 


	2. Can you watch Love just float away

After they ate lunch Chris, Anne, and Mike left to go back to the Hotel. They waved at Ron to come with him but he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "I think I'll just take a walk with Hermione," he said, grinning at Hermione.  
  
They started off. Not knowing quite where they were going, they just strolled down the street. "So Ron, where have you been for the past 5 years?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Well, the first place I went after I left was Scotland. There's a broom- inventing plant there," Ron answered.  
  
"I thought this was what you wanted, you know, singing," Hermione exclaimed.  
  
"No, this is just something that I decided to do for fun. I met Chris while I was in Scotland and we went to America together where we met Mike and Anne. We just started tinkering around, writing and singing music; after about the first month, we performed in Anne's uncle's club. We only play a little bit, you know, a performance there, another one here. We haven't even put out a CD!" Ron laughed.  
  
"So how did the broom thing go?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I do have a broom on the market. You probably don't know it and I didn't sign my own name on it. It's just under R.L.W. so not even my own family would know."  
  
"Wow Ron, so isn't that what you wanted, couldn't you have come home then?" she asked, earnestly.  
  
"No, that was just a year ago when it came on the market, and that's just a step in the right direction anyway."  
  
"Why can't you just come home and do your research here! Surely there's a plant here."  
  
"Hermione, you wouldn't understand. I can't come home. I shouldn't even be talking to you. After this day I won't even be here in England anymore. I will not stop now, not when I'm so far!"  
  
"Aren't you going to visit your family? They've been worried sick since you left. You probably don't even know that Ginny and Harry are married; you've missed so much. You have to stay! Something must have brought you here and I know what it was; you wanted to see everybody! You wanted to come back."  
  
"I came back here, to England, because my friends thought it would be "jolly good" to come back to the place I grew up. I didn't want to come back, and if I had know you would have acted like this I would have just gone back to the Hotel." Ron shot back savagely.  
  
"I'm telling your mother, we'll find you this time, I promise you that." With that Hermione stalked off, leaving Ron standing in front of an Ice Cream Parlor.  
  
Hermione rushed to the Leaky Cauldron and hurried inside. She promptly aparated to the Burrow. She wasn't going to let Ron get away this time.  
  
Ron hailed a taxi and drove to the Hotel. He went up to his room and found Chris sitting on the bed. "So, how'd it go with your little girlfriend?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it. I'm going back to New York, tonight if I can. Would you get out so I can pack?" Ron said in a deadly whisper, his ears turning bright red.  
  
"What happened Ron?" Chris asked sounding concerned. "Oh, I know what she did, she tried to get you to come back didn't she. Well, what did you say?"  
  
"I said no! I can't go back now. Now she's going to try and track me down, I knew going with her was a bad idea. She told me my best friend is married to my baby sister! Harry better be happy that I was away," Ron started ranting.  
  
"I'll call the airline, bump up your flight, it shouldn't be hard. Take care Ron, and just know, I think that you could go back now." Chris left the room and allowed Ron to pack. Ron started throwing cloths and toiletries half-hazzardly into his trunk. The back of his neck was glowing like Rudolf's nose.  
  
"You actually saw Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked excitedly.  
  
"Yes, I'm not letting him get away this time." Hermione said savagely, getting up off the couch.  
  
"Oh dear, do you even know at what Hotel he was staying?" Mrs. Weasley questioned.  
  
"No, but he can't have gone that far." Hermione swept out of the room, fully set on finding Ron and giving him a piece of her mind. "I'll send word if I find him today," she finished with a wave of her hand at Mrs. Weasley.  
  
She didn't know what she was doing so she just walked out of Ottery St. Catchpole. Then an idea struck her. He'd be leaving for America, early, by her calculations. After seeing her, he probably went back to the Hotel in a hiss and packed his bags to leave early. She couldn't very well apparate to the airport but she could hail the Knight Bus. She put out her wand hand and waited at the curb. The big bus appeared in front of her and she climbed in. "London Airport please," she said. (A/N- I don't know what the airport in London is seeing as I don't live there).  
  
When they got out she practically threw her fare in the tin and jumped out. Luckily, no one noticed her just "appearing" out of nowhere so she dove in. She craned her neck to spot a shock of Weasley red above the crowd. Suddenly, the intercom blared: "Flight to New York leaves in 5 minutes, 5 minutes till America flight. Gate number 27." She dashed off, getting through the mettle-detectors without exertion then she sprinted to the 20's. She whirled past gates: 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26, before she reached 27. She saw Ron in the line and breathed a sigh of relief. She ran up to him and grabbed him, pulling him out of the line.  
  
"Ronald Arthur Weasley, you are NOT getting on the plane. You are coming home with me! I can't believe you'd dessert us like that, what kind of friend are you?"  
  
"I'm the kind of friend that stood by and supported Harry through everything. The kind of friend that cheered for you when you won that Spelling competition in 6th year, the one that went out at all hours of the night and helped Harry practice; though he forgot a lot of the time that I too was on the team. The kind of friend that apparently did not need to have any real talent except bravery, and loyalty, just enough so that you weren't totally uninterested with me. Hermione, why can't you just support me in this? I've found my knitch Herm, I belong for once in my life!" Ron said, seemingly near tears.  
  
"Ron, we miss you! Why wasn't it enough that you were brave and loyal? You could have been an auror with me or a teacher with Harry!" she pleaded.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, the plane is leaving," the stewardess said, extending her hand for the ticket. Ron hoisted his travel bag on arm and gave her the ticket.  
  
"Please understand Hermione, I have to do this," he whispered, walking away once more.  
  
Hermione stood, tears dripping down her face, watching him walk away. Why was she so selfish? He had supported her and Harry through everything. Why couldn't they support him in what he wanted? But then she remembered, she missed him, and she loved him. 


End file.
